Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-03-02
SLATER AND THE BEAR.
Bruin Knocked Ont by the Blows Of Big
Luubcrman's Fists.

Lumbcrman's Fists.
Scranton Q7a) Cor. n. Y. Sun,
'Ssm Slater had the allfiredest muscle
an the biggest arm Of Gny man in the
upper Leigh lumber region said Hank
Baldwin the other day, IAN, when he
rastlcd with any Of tie boys, they had to
go down. II Sand been trained fur a
prize fighter he'd been one = tie best, fur
a. IL was he could strike a blow that
would floor critter. an he could knock
the panel ont of any door i ever see with
his fist. Everybody round the camp want
ell TO let Sam lone when he had one of his
/ sour spells, cause, when his dander was
up, his FISTS was the handiest thing he had
with him.
what was a-goin' to tell about Sam,
though, happened over in the lumber
country. Ne n Sam had n job gittin' out
lot o. logs, an we s;ay'd over in the
woods a week AZ time. eatin' an sleepin'
in a shanty near the work. When we
went TO eat our dinners one day, we seen
a bear sxullKin' an sniffin' around behind
the shanty rs IL he was lookin' for suthin'
10 eat. The minute Sam seen him no says ::
Hold on, Eow, Hank. Wen hev some fun
with that Teller IL he don't run away
Then he yelled at the bear to git his at
tention, but the bear didn't run away with
n snap. He looked hungry an cross, an
the sound Of Sans voice 'pcared to make
him mad, cause he slouched right over to-
ward US. gratin' his teeth an bellerin' fur
suthin' to cot. Neither Of US had any
thing to hit the bear with, en- jest as /
grabbed club an was ready to whack
him on the topknot, Sam shouted: Keep
back, IIankl Eli lay him out in great
shape If yen only leave him 10 me-
$50 hoped onto a stump an waited TO
sec what Sam was a-goin' 10 do. When
the bear got within three or four yards of
Sam, Sam made motions at him with his
fists, as il invitin' him to step up an de-
feud himself The bear licked his chops
an get madden an madden, an as he come
near, Sam backed away, as If he was 'fraid
of the bear. That made the bear more
anxious 20 see what kind o. stun Sam was
made OF, an, when Sam kept a-baclSin'
round an round in a small circle, the
cussed brute followed him, seemin' TO
grow more an more determined TO git his
grab hooks on Sam. But Sam kept his
eyes On Mr.. Bear every second, doin' all he
could 10 git his temper up 10 the highest
pitch. Sam lot the bear git almost cato
him FIVE or six times, but, just as the bear
thought he was q gOin' to git a chance to
give Sam a good squeeze, Sam jumped
back quick, an the bear was nader
ever fur bein fooled.
FINALLY Sam cal'latcd the bear was
bout mad 'nough fur that time, an so he
stopped an faced him. The bear got en-.
couragcd at this, an pranccd right up 70
Sam, and was goin' 10 give him a good
square hug fur his mother, when Sam
hauled of a few inches an give the bear
n gentle tap on the point of his nose. Il
was light blow fur Sam, but il sort o.
made the bear wonder what kind Of a fel.
Ter Sam was. any way. The bear want
satisfied with " hat he'd get, an so he
marched up ag!n an put cut his arms to
embrace sam. AS soon as he got near
'nough, Sam let drive sg'in, an when his
big, hard fist landed on the bears nose the
'tarnal beast staggered backward an
come down on all fours with a roar that
made the woods ring.
"Thcn he started fur Sam once more, an
the way he moved an looked made me
feel that he was a-goin' to eat Sam up, but
Sam didn't bulge an inch. He was smilin'
all the time, fur IL was jest the kind of fun
he liked. The bear got 'nuther clip right
on the nose that made the tears run
down his checks, but he came ur
on all tours agin few seconds later on,
an was agoin' to bite one of Sans legs of
but Sam jumped to ore side, an didn't Lei
him do it. Purity soon he made fur Sam
sgin. He was wa ddlin' long on his mind
legs and frothin' at the mouth. an Jest as
soon as he got within arms length of Sam,
Sam hauled of and knocked him head over
heels. He tumbled over a couple of logs
and didn't stop revolvIn' lllhe'd landed in
n heap o. brush twelve foot away. Then
Sam laughed as if his sides would bust.
That blow would've knocked horse down,
4 II
bear very hard.
'The tear didn't undertake to go fur
Sam aSin. When he came to himself he
foundered out OF the brush heap, and then
he turned tail an mozied off toward the
swamp. l wanted to chase him an end
his troubles, but Sam said he'd been pun.
ished 'nough fur tryin' to steal our Wit
ties out Of the shanty, an SO we let him
CO."